I am one of the original posters that was merged into this thread. It appears that stops were removed from multiple bases suddenly without notification three days ago. It may be due to increased security concerns over the purchase of Niantic by Scoply which is run by a Saudi Arabian company and the information that pokemon gathers could allow for intelligence collection to occur more easily.
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Hm thanks for the info. I guess you got a point I dont think anything can be done if its official request from military
I find that hard to believe, being that the current US administration is buddied up with the Saudis. It’s possible, but again, less so if you know what the relationship is with the Saudis and the US currently.
Also, please keep your comments respectful and civil. Not everyone is on Reddit, not everyone is on other social media sites. I’m one of those people, so I was asking a question wondering if there were other reports at other bases, as no other players have reported other bases with this issue here in the forums.
At this time, there is no official proof, just what is being observed at some US bases. I also didn’t reply to you with the comment about Reddit not being the most reliable source of info, but instead to Eli, as it isn’t. Reddit isn’t moderated by Wayfarer staff or ambos, so there’s info on there that isn’t always correct and accurate, and we don’t want any misinformation to be spread here in the forums.
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To be fair, a lot of Pokémon Go players likely aren’t aware that the forum exists, so that’s not necessarily surprising.
Yes, true, but also not everyone is on other social media sites, so that has to be kept i mind. I don’t use Reddit, and some of the info on other social media sites can be misleading, as they may not be moderated like here in the forums.
Let’s move on from this discussion and get back to the actual discussion instead.
Could we get some official recommendations for a course of action?, If Hunt Community (which recently bought the residential areas) made the request, I could walk 3 minutes and discuss restoring all the Pokestops.
If they agree to restore all the Waypoints, what is the process they would need to follow?
Most likely the recommendation would be to contact the property owner(s) and work with them. Being no one knows who these could be, and I don’t believe staff is implied to reveal who they are to us, it seems likely related to the military, so checking with those in command with the base might be a good place to start.
Otherwise, as there are other bases affected, it’s possible that there is a higher command that made this decision, such as the Dept of Defense. One for the Reddit threads mentioned Quantico, which is the FBI, so that falls under the Dept of Justice. So, it may be more than one dept involved, or, if it’s a matter or cybersecurity, that could fall under the NSA.
All in all, it’s a mess.
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I agree it’s a mess, but either Hunt or Liberty Housing has privatized housing in all affected areas. If it were a cybersecurity threat, Scopely would have a bigger issue than removing a few waypoints, so it is very unlikely it is the NSA.
You might have to try a process of elimination, to see who it isn’t.
Is there someone at the base responsible for liaising with the wider community?
It will be worthwhile trying to see what the bigger picture is.
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Public affairs office would be a good stop.
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According to Michael Steranka, the pokemon data will remain in the USA, so cybersecurity threats likely shouldn’t be a concern in this case.
Data is one thing, having stops/gyms to play at is a completely different issue. Yes, the Wayspots are still showing in the nomination map, but now as explanation points instead of stops/gyms, so the data is there, but nothing is up and playable.
Things can change in a few months, so it’s possible that something did since the sale was officially announced in March.
According to multi other social media sites “Pokestops were removed from multiple USMC bases to include Camp Lejuene, Camp Pendleton, and Quantico.”
So it’s something to keep an eye and see if there is a correlation. But I think if at all possible. We should try and keep the forum politic free!!
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I think scopely are putting it this way to prevent people from resubmitting.
Yes, I know this, but others may not. The data is still there, it’s just that it’s not on the game play map.
Good evening,
About a week ago, nearly 50 PokéStops and 15 Gyms were removed from the downtown Jacksonville, North Carolina area. This location had a very active and passionate Pokémon GO community. Many of the removed locations were in public and community spaces—including parks, an environmental education center, churches, a train depot, marinas, and baseball fields.
Before reaching out, I made sure to do my homework. Here are the facts:
- The affected area is not on military property, though there is a base nearby.
- The Beirut Memorial had stops removed, but this is not in the dispute to get stuff reinstated.
- Most of the removed locations were clearly public-use areas like churches, parks, and city-owned facilities.
- There is no homeowners’ association governing this part of the city.
- The City of Jacksonville did not request removals.
- Parks and Recreation has confirmed they did not ask for these removals either.
What I’ve gathered so far:
- Picture 1 shows the locations of the 9 major gyms—each of which was accessible by public roads, legal parking, or parks.
- Picture 2 highlights the actual park areas in yellow.
- Picture 3 displays the zones now wiped clean of PokéStops and Gyms. I did not individually list all the stops. But if that data is needed once someone from Niantic/Scopley reaches out, I can bring that to the table too.
- Picture 4 includes gym names, addresses, and related data.
Our community is really struggling with this sudden loss. We believe this may have been an accidental sweep—possibly tied to legitimate removal of stops on a nearby military installation—or a mistaken mass removal request. While the latter is unlikely, we want to be thorough in exploring all possibilities.
Is there anyone from Niantic or Scopely who can look into this?
We would deeply appreciate any support in understanding what happened—and hopefully restoring what was lost. This community has been actively engaging, growing, and supporting one another through the game. We’d hate to see that progress erased.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
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This looks like the same area that’s been discussed on this thread:
It is. But this is with data, maps, and cords. Hopefully this will get us in contact with someone to get the ball rolling.
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Staff has already confirmed that these were property owner request removals on the other topic, and they cannot divulge more than that. Thank you for all this work to let us know just how huge this is. I sincerely hope staff here can let you know how to proceed with recovery.
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Thank you. I hope they can help too. I wanted to show there is no way one property owner did this. It is impossible. Thats why i presented all this data. If one person claimed they were property owner they manipulated the system and falsified info.